


Stracciatella

by Rythen



Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Violence, good chance I'll take this and expand some more, i basically took an older work and expanded, like a backwards matryoshka doll, pumpkin spice ice cream
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-05 10:22:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6701050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rythen/pseuds/Rythen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>More backstory stuff for Roman and Neo, small pieces of how they met and began working together.</p>
<p>Written for the contest over on the pumpkinspiceicecream Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stracciatella

**Author's Note:**

> This has been a long time in the works and I am finally ready for it to be over and for me to work on my next thing. Grammar should be okay, but feel free to bug me if I glossed over something.

_It was raining. No, raining was not a very good word for it - it was closer to pouring. Naturally it could be worse, but it could be much better as well; the umbrella held by shaky hands was old and worn, the rain heavy enough where the small figure under the canopy was still getting wet. Her clothes were not in much better shape, her tri-colored hair messy and unkempt, with dark circles under eyes that appeared to be far too young to be so exhausted. She sat on a bench outside a storefront - closed, for now, as it was late in the night - mind shut out to the world around her, oblivious to the footsteps that approached._

_"You seem awfully young to be out on your own."_

_If she stayed silent, he would walk away, and so she remained unmoving, as though she had not heard a word he had spoken to her. Much to her dismay, he did not leave. Actually, he got closer, and this was not something she was keen on dealing with. In a flash she stood, umbrella closed and poised offensively, pointed at his throat. It was a blunt object, sure, but damage could still be done, and she had done enough fighting in her past to know how to cause it. She was forced to face him now - red hair, green eyes, clothes nice but not fancy, and he did not appear to be much older than she was. He also did not appear to be a Huntsman, although she knew he would not be a pushover._

_He grinned. He was being threatened and he_ grinned. __

_"You're not entirely some helpless child, but here you are - dirty, cold, and hungry."_

_Her anger flared. Naturally her eyes were a heterochromic mix of brown and pink - brown left, pink right - but now they had swapped places. He was talking too much, and so she thrust her arm forward in an attempt to silence him._

_He dodged it, but did not run. They always ran when she began to attack, but he was sticking around._

_"Easy now, you could hurt someone with that. Well, you could, but you're too slow. You can't fight the same way you see huntresses and huntsmen do, you're small, you need to use that to your advantage."_

_She lowered her umbrella, staring at the stranger a bit perplexed. Was he... trying to help her fight?_

_"Look, I know you're not just some lost child waiting for her parents. You left somewhere, right? Ran away? I'd be willing to help you out - teach you how to fight, how to survive - but it won't be, ah how do I say this... it won't be the righteous path of a huntress, if you get what I mean."_

_One eyebrow raised, her eyes blinking to reveal the colors in her irises had returned to their default state. The rain had not slowed, but it was long forgotten. Possibly against her better judgement, she nodded. His intentions did not appear to be malicious, and there was something about him that she felt she could trust._

_He held out his hand to her, "Roman."_

_She glanced at it for a second before shaking on this new agreement, unused voice shaky and hoarse._

_"Neo."_

\-----

They arrived at a small studio apartment, located in a sketchy area of town. At least the inside was clean and well-kept, albeit bare, and vastly different from the old and worn exterior - and it was warm. Spring had only just begun to arrive, meaning Neo had just spent countless weeks stranded in the cold. Roman nudged her inside, closing the door behind the two of them and setting the umbrellas off to the side. He walked past her and gestured to one of two doors in the place before sitting on the chair in the center of the room and turning on the TV.

"The bathroom is in there, I'm sure you'd like a shower."

She nodded slowly in response, walked towards the door, and glanced back over towards him as she opened it. He was paying her no attention. It didn't seem as though he had any ulterior motives to bringing her here, and she had managed to spot at least a few items she could weaponize in a pinch. After closing and locking the door behind her she noticed the mirror. Dust she looked horrible - her hair was a mess, she looked as tired as she felt, and she was soaked to the bone. Giving one last glance to the door, she stripped down and stepped into the shower, pulling the curtain behind her. The toiletries were definitely cheap and smelled a bit of cinnamon, something she didn't particularly enjoy, but it was offered to her for free, and so she didn't have much room to complain.

A good half hour was spent in the shower before she finally turned the water off and stepped out, finding a clean towel on the counter, next to a pile that was most certainly not the clothes she had left there. They were clothes, yes, and they were clean - but they were not hers. After giving the small bathroom a quick glance, she grabbed the towel to begin drying herself, soon after picking up the clothes to wear. Naturally, they were too big for her, something that often happens with a petite body. 

It took a bit of tweaking, but she managed to make it to where the black shirt was not completely baggy, but the pair of shorts left for her had proven to be a bit more of a task. Stepping out into the main room, she saw that Roman was still - again? - on the chair, TV on as thunder began outside. The bed was the only available surface left to sit on, and so Neo sat down on the mattress, legs crossed, and watched Roman with a pair of brown eyes.

"Alright, Neo, if we're going to team up you're going to have to not stare at me." He glanced over towards her, "that lock is just about the easiest thing to pick - and no, I didn't see anything."

He turned his head to gesture towards the table at the end of the bed, "there's water and something for you to eat."

"Thank you," she said softly, picking up one of the granola bars and taking off the wrapper. It tasted like cardboard, but it was food. Obviously Roman wasn't one to spend an extravagant amount of money on anything.

His attention returned to whatever show was on the TV as she ate, the pair sitting in awkward silence as the storm still raged outside. Her eyes, now back to their monochromatic state, glanced around the room. Honestly it seemed as though the room existed only as a place to rest and store weaponry - she noted a gun laying on a table near where he sat. Although as she pieced things together, it became more likely that he simply moved too often to really settle into one place. A life like that seemed like something she could manage, as she had been living on the streets for a few weeks already, and this one would at least end with a shower and a bed every night.

After some time she relaxed, laying herself sideways on the bed, back to the wall to face Roman, and pulled the blankets on top of her. It was becoming obvious now that she was exhausted, and the more she allowed herself to relax, the harder it was to keep her eyes open, and eventually she gave up fighting it.

\-----

Morning came and went, and due to the west-facing window, the sun didn't shine much through the window until early in the afternoon. Roman had even left and returned, with Neo remaining asleep until the smell of food woke her up, slowly moving to a sitting position, eyes opening to reveal two brown irises. 

"Morning, sunshine."

Her eyes narrowed at him and that smug look on his face, as though glaring hard enough would shut him up.

It didn't.

Actually, it made him laugh.

"You know, I tried to wake you earlier but you wouldn't budge."

He pulled a bowl from the microwave - that's where the smell was coming from - added a spoon, and walked over to hand it to her. It smelled kind of sweet but didn't quite have the texture that cereal would have. Plus, it was warm. Cereal wasn't warm. Neo stirred it with the spoon for a bit before carefully having a taste. It was just a bit sweet, and was far more filling than the snacks she had the night before despite tasting similar. It didn't take long before she had finished the bowl, setting it on the table next to her and taking a drink of the water that sat there.

Roman started for the bathroom, stopping just before opening the door to speak.

"If you're having second thoughts, this is your chance to leave. I won't chase after you."

He didn't even look back when he spoke, opening the door and stepping in as soon as he was done speaking. Neo heard the water start and smelled cinnamon soon after. 

This gave her some time to think. With everything she pieced together she had a vague idea of what would be expected of her if she did team up with him. It had become pretty apparent he was a criminal of some sort, judging by the lightly decorated apartment, the shady location, and the weaponry she saw on the table. Would that be so different than how she had been living recently? Or, at least, trying to live. Being unable to speak had it's perks, but she was still a novice and made mistakes, and her hair made it very difficult to disguise herself. Not many people had hair that consisted of more than one color.

No, she figured, it wouldn't be so bad. There was a certain thrill she had after a successful theft, and she could only imagine how nice it would be to succeed more often, possibly with higher stakes as well.

It could be fun. Plus - he would teach her how to fight. How to fend for herself. _That_ sounded fun. 

His shower was short and it didn't take long before he exit the room, smiling when he saw that Neo had not left. He was kind of looking forward to the company and hopefully she would stick around for at least a while; he hadn't even realized that he had actually gotten lonely. It was also worth noting the grin on her face; it was almost sadistic. It was intriguing. What prompted this?

"Thinking about something, Ice Cream?"

The nickname just kind of slipped out, Roman hadn't even realized he was saying it until the words were out of his mouth. For the most part she ignored it and her eyes both went pink as she thought and glanced around the room. Somehow he picked up on her thought process, grabbing his scroll to open a text pad program and handing it to her. She nodded and begin to type, showing him the screen once she was done.

_You never told me what we'll be doing, but it's obvious you're a criminal of some sort._

His face went from neutral to an amused grin once he read her message.

"Basically, yes. I'm a liar, a thief, a cheater, and I do what I need to in order to survive. Most of the time things go pretty smooth, nothing major, just what I need to get by, but sometimes things get a bit more... desperate."

There was no hiding how her grin widened as he spoke; she blinked again to reveal both eyes had gone brown. Maybe there was a pattern to those eyes - a pattern he hoped to learn.

"Interested?"

She nodded in response, blinking once again as her eyes changed back to what Roman assumed to be their normal - brown and pink - before she glanced downwards towards his scroll and typed out a new message.

_Teach me._

\-----

Each day they would wake up before dawn and make their way to a part of the forest that bordered the kingdom. Out of the way of huntsmen, and with very little Grimm activity.

First he taught her to fire a weapon - it was easy enough to pick up, and he taught her the use of dust as she learned. Fortunately for the both of them she was a quick learner, although it was obvious that ranged combat was not something she was necessarily interested in. 

Next he helped her work out a fighting style with close-ranged weapons. Until they could work out a real weapon for her to use, they settled for the umbrella she had when they met while Roman used his own Melodic Cudgel. It was an odd set of weapons, but it worked surprisingly well for the pair - Roman's cane was primarily a bludgeon, but could also be used as a firearm.

As they trained, he noticed that she was both incredibly flexible and very quick. Quick enough where it was becoming increasingly difficult to actually land a hit before she would counter, only his aura was preventing him from winding up with multiple cracked ribs.

It took only a few weeks before Roman was confident they could start taking on more dangerous thefts than they had been, moving up from pick-pocketing and shoplifting to something much more profitable. 

Vacuo had it's fair share of shady neighborhoods, and the pair had caught wind of a dust theft being organized in one of them. It was far enough away from their small apartment, organized by a fairly small group of thugs, and so Roman decided it would be perfect for the two of them. The plan was simple - the thieves were to steal a crate from a dust shipment and then they would retreat to their hideout, where they would then be intercepted by Roman and Neo. 

Using Roman's connections they had found the hideout - an abandoned building to the side of the small city of Ridge. Stereotypical, yes, but criminals weren't always known for being original, and he wanted to start with an easy target. They stationed themselves in the small and mostly barren storefront which, ironically, appeared to have been a Dust shop at one point in time. The door to the small back room was mostly in tact, and they decided hiding in there would be in their best interest. Roman's plan banked both on their targets being careless enough to bring in the Dust crate before checking the area, and on them entering through the front door. 

Fortunately, their targets were not smart.

Not only that, but they practically announced their entrance to the abandoned building, laughing and talking loudly as the crate hit the ground with a loud thud. Neo's previously bored expression turned into a grin as she silently stood, knife in hand, and looked to Roman for direction. The thieves in the main room spoke for a bit before leaving the building, the sound of the door closing followed behind them. 

Roman gave a nod and Neo was the first to leave the storage room, practically sauntering her way past what was once the checkout counter. She stopped in her tracks as it became obvious that not _all_ of the theives had left - one pair of men had remained, lackeys that had probably stuck around to sort through the spoils. Her eyes met theirs, blinking once as her eye color flipped.

"Who the fuck are--"

His words bubbled in his throat, literally. Neo had launched herself over the counter while he spoke, then quickly buried the blade of the dagger into his neck before leaping backwards to dodge the shot from his buddy. Roman could do nothing but sigh as he walked into the room, raised Melodic Cudgel to fire a shot, but stopped in favor of watching Neo do her work. It was a sight to behold. The man on the floor was gasping for breath, completely ignored by Neo as she practically toyed with the yet-incapacitated lackey. She had taken Roman's advice to heart and was using her small size to her advantage, never stopping long enough for him to get a good shot at her. the grin on her face was nothing short of psychotic as she kicked the gun from his grip and stared him down (up?) for a short moment before using those legs of hers to knock him unconscious. 

"Very nice work, Neo. A little messy, but sometimes it happens."

He stepped carefully over the man bleeding out on the floor, keeping a distance from the second as he shot him. Neo raised an eyebrow at this.

"Can't keep him alive, he'll spread our faces to every gangster in the area."

Her expression didn't change, giving him the idea that he answered a question she was not asking, her eyes pointing out the distance between him and his victim.

"Blood doesn't clean up very easily, Sundae. Shooting from a distance keeps blood off my suit."

She rolled her eyes at this, huffing out a sigh at the same time. Even with their short time together so far, this did not surprise her in the slightest. He was most certainly vain.

The now twice-stolen dust was easily transported into the boxes they had brought with them and carried back to what was their current home.

\-----

Every few weeks would bring about a new heist, always netting them a fair sum of lien to split, with part of the cash being used to find a new place to stay. Roman had been getting tired of sleeping either in a chair or on the floor and he thought that Neo may appreciate having a bit more privacy, so he managed to find a cheap one bedroom apartment. Shady, yes, but it was cheap and the manager didn't ask any questions. 

Their furniture was simple, and as usual Roman didn't don the living space with anything more than he deemed necessary. Neo, however, seemed to be taking to the idea of having her own space, even going so far as to buying trinkets to decorate with. Naturally Roman didn't understand, but it made her happy, and he was becoming increasingly interested in her happiness. 

So much so, that when she awakened for the first time in the middle of the night, body covered in a layer of sweat, eyes white as snow, he stayed up to keep her company. This would happen every couple of weeks and despite Neo's best efforts to not bother him he would always wake up and he would always stay with her until she could sleep again, even if it meant forgoing sleep himself. He even found himself going through the events of the day to see if he could start recognizing a pattern - something that would trigger the nightmares - but nothing ever seemed consistent enough to be the cause. 

The first time she managed to not awaken him during the night he awoke the next morning to find her, somehow, sleeping curled up next to him in bed. How she had managed it, he wasn't sure, but he managed to let her sleep as long as she wanted, not waking her as he left the bed to go about his own business. When she did awake on her own he said nothing about it, preferring not to embarrass her or possibly steer her away from doing it again. 

He had started to care about her, and it worried him a bit that she may decide to leave and work solo, leaving him alone once again. He didn't want that.

Fortunately it began to seem as though he wouldn't be forced to work alone again any time soon, as over time she appeared in his bed more frequently, and eventually she stopped sleeping alone to begin with and started her night by his side. 

Funny enough, that's all she needed to keep her nightmares at bay.

\-----

It took a couple of years for the pair to begin running into problems in Vacuo - by then the cops had caught on, and many of the mobsters were starting to wise up. Roman knew it was only a matter of time before it would be time to leave the kingdom for at least a few years, laying in wait for their names to be forgotten before returning. It certainly didn't help that the pair had fairly unique weapons, either; canes and parasols were not commonplace anywhere, and not even Neo's discovered semblance would keep them safe for much longer.

Vale was the easiest option, and the pair had managed good enough disguises to make their way on board without being recognized. The entire trip was spent with Neo nudging Roman to point out varying sights and signed over a dozen questions about their destination, leaving Roman to assume that if Neo liked to speak she would be impossible to shut up. Upon arrival, he stood off to the side as she happily wandered the docks, taking some time to look around and enjoy the atmosphere for a while. She also managed to snag a couple of wallets, ensuring they had a fairly nice meal before settling into a cheap motel for the night. In the morning they would scout for a nicer place to stay.

Their antics worked far better in Vale than they had in Vacuo - it helped that crime was far less common and so vendors and residents never really kept up their guard - and it wasn't long before they had managed to gather a few connections through the kingdom. 

Things were working pretty well for the duo.

That is, until the lady in red showed up.


End file.
